When I first got into perfume at around 13 or 14, Tommy Girl was the classic scent of the teenage girl. Although I didn't have many friends interested in perfume, this was the one that everyone preferred and I still have a half empty bottle on my shelf today (yes, it's about 8 years old and has barely changed so I still wear it occasionally!). It takes me forever to get through perfume, even though I wear it most days...so it's not half empty after eight years because I don't like it, it's because it seems to last forever! Apparently it's been around since 1996, and it's still going today so it must still be quite popular.

Even as a teenager I was very clear about what I liked and didn't like in a perfume, and I hated spicy notes as I still do today. I'm not overly keen on strong floral scents either, so Tommy Girl avoids both of those with a fresh, slightly sweet scent.

The perfume contains:

Top notes - Florida Grapefruit, Midwestern Spearmint, Cape Cod Cranberry and Dutch Apple Pie
Middle note - Texas Yellow rose
Base notes - Vermont Red Maplewood and Atlantic Driftwood.

I have to say that I'm extremely surprised by ALL of these notes - I didn't realise it was such an unusual perfume! It's described as having 'all-American' notes, which makes sense as Tommy Hilfiger is a strongly American brand. I would have to say that I would struggle to pick any of those notes out alone, although there's a tiny hint of grapefruit and cherry, and I can understand the yellow rose. It's quite difficult to describe the overall scent, and whilst I do still like it, I don't like it as much as my Ralph Lauren or Black XS perfumes - perhaps because it is quite 'young' smelling in a few respects.

The official description says that, 'Tommy fragrance takes an original approach to freshness with a blend of tangy citrus accords and cool herbal notes, evoking the invigorating purity of rain and fresh air.' I'm not sure that it reminds me of rain, because that just makes me think of wet dog (ew), but the freshness is definitely there.

The RRP is £24 for a 30ml bottle; on Amazon it seems to be going for £12.50. You can alternatively pick up a 100ml bottle for between £20-£35. I would advise buying carefully though as there seem to be a lot of counterfeits around. There's also a 200ml body lotion available if you want to make up a gift set. Even at full price it's reasonably cheap and would make a nice present.

Tommy Girl is probably more suited to the under 20s, but it's a great first perfume and the bottle is of thick glass and good quality. The lid is much firmer and better made than most other perfumes I've had, and the bottle is quite stylish with its 'flat' corners. Many perfumes aimed at girls seem to take the approach that they need to be as pink and fake jewelled as possible, so it's nice to see a 'teenage' perfume that's respectably plain and has had money spent on quality of scent and glass.